SF Cutters March 16: 11th Anniversary

SF Cutters is meeting March 16th -- the 11th Anniversary of the 1st ever FCPUG. Back then Sharon Franklin presented on the Option key in Final Cut; Adam Wilt was an audience member.

This meeting is planned for 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM at Adobe in San Francisco. Tickets available online; capacity is limited. Here's the current agenda:

• AE guru Matt Silverman of Bonfire Labs
• Jeff Way of AJA ( Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini) and Michael Gee with the Panasonic AF100
• an Adobe presentation
• Raffle prizes
• 6:30 - 7:00, Pizza and Drinks
• Sponsor and vendor tables

SF Cutters: 9th Street February 23

SF Cutters -- brought to you originally by the Option key in Final Cut -- is meeting Wed, February 23, 2011 from 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM at NINTH ST SCREENING ROOM - Ninth and Minna in San Francisco.

Here's the current agenda:

• Filmmaker James Fortier
• Consultant Nanette Rosen (database & backups)
• Editor Christina Sheffey
• Prizes
• 6:30 - 7:00 come early have some Pizza and Drinks
• $11.24 online and $15 cash at the door

SAVE Wednesday March 16th for SF Cutters 11th Anniversary - that meeting will be free at Adobe.

Optimizing Performance for Production Premium CS5

Adobe has a live presentation & Q&A on Optimizing Performance for Production Premium CS5, scheduled on January 24, Noon PST. You have to sign up on Facebook for now.

If you can't wait for this, check out Setting Up After Effects for Optimum Performance on AE Portal, and this video Setting Up After Effects for Optimum Performance with 64-Bit Systems by Todd Kopriva from Adobe After Effects CS5: Learn by Video:

Tonight online: Boris Fx for After Effects

Motion+connect has a free live online event tonight, What's New in Boris Continuum Complete 7 AE. There's giveaways, and enough time to register.

Here's times and details:

time: 7:30 – 8:35 PM MST | 6:30 PST | 9:30 EST

url: http://motion.tv/connect
login to chat, comment, and participate in the Q&A

overview:
7:15-7:30 PM: Pre-Show: Winners of the 2010 Made with After Effects Competition
7:30-8:20 PM: Paul Ezzy: What’s New in Boris Continuum Complete 7 AE
8:20-8:30 PM: Q&A
8:30-8:35 PM: giveaways | close

SF Cutters Jan 11: Stereoscopic workflows

SF Cutters -- brought to you originally by the Option key in Final Cut -- is meeting TONIGHT, January 11, 2011 from 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM at Adobe in San Francisco.

Tickets available online until 7:00 pm. Here's the current agenda:

• filmmakers Renata and Marek Poray
• Kevan O'Brien now at nVidia
• Karl Soule of Adobe on Cineform : Adobe CS5 3D workflow
• Prizes (NVIDIA QUADRO 4000 Graphics card - for MAC or PC, & more)
• 6:30 - 7:00 come early have some Pizza and Drinks
• Vendor tables (sponsors Adobe, AJA, NVIDIA and Create More; Snader, Propville Directory, Reel Directory)

Gift Complaint Form

Jeff Almasol noted the Gift Complaint Form (available as PDF), which could be passed out with gifts. In any case bureaucratic red tape is appropriate for our age.

SF Cutters @ Avid 12-1 + Avid/RED webinar

SF Cutters -- brought to you originally by the Option key in Final Cut -- is having a night hosted by Avid on Wednesday, December 01, 2010 from 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM.

Tickets are going fast. This meeting is at Avid (Digidesign), 2001 Junipero Serra Blvd in Daly City (not real far from BART). Here's the current agenda:

• Chris Nelson, editor of Lost and Mad Men
• Michael Krulik, Avid Sr. Applications Editor
• Jesse Spencer, expert sharing tricks
• drawing includes Avid Media Composer 5!

Update: see Scott Simmons on a free webinar with the experts on December 2, Avid and RED team up for a RED workflow webinar.

Mark Christiansen @ Apple Store: November 18

@AdobeAE notes that Mark Christiansen will appear at the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco on Thursday November 18, 2010, 6:30-7:30 pm:

"Join Mark Christiansen, author of Adobe After Effects CS5 Visual Effects and Compositing Studio Techniques, as he discusses how the world has been changed by advances in visual effects and compositing. Not sure what a compositor does? Mark will demystify effects compositing and demonstrate why it's such a valuable craft."

It looks like Peachpit has a Book + eBook Bundle, which seems pretty handy.

SF Cutters Oct *26: Boris FX, PBS doc, storage

NOTE: since the SF Giants may be in the World Series, SF Cutters moved the meeting up a day to Tues October 26 -- same time, place, speakers.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

SF Cutters -- brought to you originally by the Option key in Final Cut -- is having a meeting Wednesday Oct 26th.* This meeting is at the NINTH ST Screening Room at 145 9th St.

This meeting is not free (but there's a great raffle and pizza). Here's the current agenda:

• Larry Jordan demos Boris FX Contiuum Complete 7 FXPlug
• Paul Baker on PBS "Yellowstone" Doc - Prod to Post
• Chris Fenwick on Design an Affordable and Effective Storage System
• more + raffle
• Everyone who attends the meeting will receive a FREE Boris Continuum Glitters Unit plug-in via download (requires online registration for meeting, or using the link provided at the meeting on screen).

SF Cutters Sept 23: Adobe, PluralEyes, Motion, AJA +

SF Cutters -- brought to you originally by the Option key in Final Cut -- is having a meeting September 23. The meeting is at Adobe at 601 Townsend at 7th in San Francisco.

This meeting is not free (but there's a great raffle, and 6:30 pizza sponored by Singular Software and drinks and cookies sponsored by Pixelflow); sign up for access. Here's the current agenda:

• Karl Soule from Adobe: New RED / Adobe workflows with metadata, and plugins Freeform and Mocha for AE
• Bruce Sharpe of Singular Software: PluralEyes - sync your audio and video without sinking your project
• Mark Spencer on 3D in Apple Motion
• Tery William of AJA: NEW products for 3D production
• Jin Joo of CinemaSports
• Jason LaBatt and Michelle Ortega show excerpts from "Adult Beginner Ballet"
• info tables with Patrick Sculley of Pixelfow, Bruce Sharpe of Singular Software, Tery Williams of AJA, Damon Hampson of Peachpit Press, and Skye Christiansen of Ninth Street Screening Room

SFSU Digital Animation info meeting Aug 4th

There's a Fall 2010 Information Session at the San Francisco State Downtown Campus on their Digital Animation certificate program to learn about courses, the certificate, and how to enroll.

When
Wednesday, August 4, 6-7 pm

Where
SF State Downtown Campus
835 Market Street, 6th Floor
(across from Powell BART)

RSVP
www.cel.sfsu.edu/animation/

Questions
Contact Shelley Blockhus, Program Director

blockhus@sfsu.edu

(415) 817-4291

motion.tv tonight: Flash + AE, Repousse, Boris

motion+connect has an online event tonight starting 7:30 pm MST.

Here's the a summary of the agenda; there's more detail on content and timing on the website:

• Flash Animation with After Effects with Stanton Cruse
• Using Repousse and 3D in Photoshop CS5 Extended, with Scott Valentine
• Paul Ezzy presents the new filters in Boris Continuum Complete 7 for After Effects and Premiere Pro, including a 3-way color grade filter with built-in keying and masking tools, a new video noise reduction tool, a spline-based warp filter, an audio-driven keyframe generator, a new OpenGL particle engine, and still and video morph technology.

Update: motion+connect posted the presentations from their Tuesday online event (via).

SF Cutters July 15: Sharp & Christiansen, Flash, FxPlugs + more

SF Cutters -- brought to you originally by the Option key in Final Cut -- is having a meeting next week on Thursday July 15th. The meeting is at Adobe at 601 Townsend at 7th in San Francisco.

This meeting is not free; sign up for access. Here's the current agenda:

• Robert Sharp & Mark Christiansen on "The DigiEffects Ghost of Past, Present & Future"
  
• Richard Galvan, Adobe Flash Manager
• Bruce Gee, Gee Three FxPlugs
• Kevin Monahan, Final Cut Pro editor
• "The New Up" Music Video by Hassan Said, Peggy Peralta, and Albert Lopez
• Goat Hill Pizza served at 6:30, thanks to PixelFlow Video Content Collaboration Portal
• SF Cutters Giveaway/Exchange table for used books, DVDs, software
• Raffle & vendor tables
  

21 Motion Graphics and Visual Effects User Groups and Meetups

Topher Welsh has collected 21 Motion Graphics and Visual Effects User Groups and Meetups.

That's more than seen elsewhere (an old list) but hopefully comments will expand the list. Maybe not though -- user groups come and go. San Francisco has had several since the first one at the parent of Toolfarm. I can add SF Cutters and irregulars SF Mograph, Digital Cinema Society Northern California Chapter, and MacFilmmakers.

AEP Night in Tokyo May 27

Tatsuro Ogata (llcheesell), author of the AE script LCDeffect and Japanese website AEP Project, announced an After Effects user group meeting "AEP Night" modeled on AENY. See #AEPN2 for Twitter buzz.

The event is planned for Tokyo on 27, May, 2010 (Thu) 18:00- 20:30 JST at Station 5 (OW Building 4-21-8 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo). Station 5 is an Adobe's official gallery and event space at Omote-sando, Tokyo (pictured).

The agenda includes seven talks, a short movie competition, & an after party. The talk and competition should be broadcast using Ustream, and there are many join-prizes: CS5 Production Premium, CINEMA 4D Broadcast Edition, FxFactory Pro 2, five Red Giant products, and more.

By the way Google Chrome 4 will automatically ask if you want a translation of a web page; very handy.

SF Cutters May 13: CS5, organize FCP, AJA + Big raffle

SF Cutters -- brought to you originally by the Option key in Final Cut -- is having a meeting next week on Thursday May 13th. The meeting is at Adobe at 601 Townsend at 7th in San Francisco.

This meeting is not free; sign up for access. Here's the current agenda:

• Karl Soule: on Adobe CS5
• Tery Williams: on AJA and Adobe CS5
• Chris Fenwick: returns on how to Organize your FCP Project
• Mitchell Rose: comic filmmaker
• Raffle: In addition to the regular raffle - see vendor list - there are TWO separate drawings for Adobe CS5 Production Premium & for an AJA Ki Pro

NAB Post|Production World discount + Post Pit

The 2010 NAB Show is April 10-15 in Las Vegas, and the Post|Production World Conference will be happening again. If you're interested, here's a special registration code for a $100 discount off Post|Production World: UG44. You redeem or register directly at http://ow.ly/1fMQY, or go to http://nabshow.com/register and enter the code.

For free access to the exhibit floor, visit http://ow.ly/13TL9 or register at http://nabshow.com/register with the code A913. The free Exhibits Only pass includes: the Opening Keynote and State of the Industry Address, Info Sessions, and Content Theater & Destination Broadband Theater.

Another part of the show to look out for in the South Lower Hall is the new "Post Pit," which brings together users and industry personalities in partnership with Final Cut Pro User Groups, Future Media Concepts, Fxguide, and Digital Production Buzz with live podcasts and tips & tricks.

One way to keep up with the news is the NABshow Blog.

VFX TownHall leftovers for examination + VFX Union Panel/Chat Room

It's so over, making this post a bit repetitive, but hey...

Conditions can be tough for people working in advertising and visual effects as economic and technological pressures realign the industries. A flurry of stories last month (see FX industry troubles: Lee Stranahan, Scott Ross + editing), culminated in a VFX TownHall meeting last night.

If you missed it live, there's a Twitter potluck #VFXTownHall and audio of the event provided by VFx Haiku and to lighten the bandwidth burden by Fxguide. There's more to come, but for now some the glamor of VFX is discussed at Cracked in The 5 Miserable VFX Jobs That Make Movies Possible.

Update: via @alba #vfxtownhall sprouting corridors in every direction [Wednesday] tonight 7:30pm PST @dorkmanscott doing panel @ http://downinfront.net/vfx/ via @neonmarg

Update 2: Scott Squires, with VFX experience ranging from Close Encounters to Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, posted VFX TownHall Meeting thoughts [and later added more].

Update 3: Creative COW avoids the term outsourcing in the recently published Worldsourcing: A Prime Focus on Global VFX Collaboration by Mike Fink, which uses another term -- Collaboration:the new buzzword in advertising, production, & online video.

You might compare "collaboration" to the other views noted earlier in The PEN story: another YouTube Dilemma and The Carrot is the Stick which noted Motionographer's Mass Animation=Mass Exploitation?

SF Cutters March 11: Red Giant sneak peek & more

SF Cutters -- brought to you originally by the Option key in Final Cut -- is having their 10th Anniversary meeting is this week on Thursday March 11th. The meeting is at Adobe is at 601 Townsend at 7th in San Francisco.

This meeting is free but please sign up for access and for better food planning. Here's the current agenda:

• STUMP THE GURUS With Kevin Monahan, Jesse Spencer, Karl Soule, Sean Safreed
• Karl Soule: Adobe Evangelist on The Making of AVATAR and Adobe Production Premium & a sneak peak of the new Mercury Playback Engine
• Sean Safreed: Redgiant Software - More Grinder & Sneak Peaks of New Releases
• Chris Fenwick: Slice Editorial - Organize your FCP Project - Save your sanity and Improve your Business
• Raffle, which includes CS4 Adobe Production Premium, DigiEffects Mega Suite, NAB Post Production World Pass, and more!
  

Video of San Francisco Final Cut SuperMeet

Via The Editblog, there's Live feed of San Francisco Final Cut SuperMeet mentioned here last week. Update: the recording is available too, as are some oldies on MacVideo.

Live TV : Ustream